Hello gentle listener, and welcome to nocturnal transmissions, the fortnightly podcast that brings you dark tales both old and new, performed by voice artist, Kristen Holland.

My mission is to create a world where we can live in harmony with nature.

Jane Goodall

I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent

less time proving that he can outwit nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting

her seniority.

E.B. White.

I believe in God, only I spell it.

Nature. Frank Lloyd Wright.

Nature.

Red in tooth and claw.

Tennyson.

Nocturnal transmissions is proud to present Old Man Winter by Dan Fields.

Buck Leavenworth was not a man who ran for much.

He stood a medium height with modest portions of wiry muscle on him, but he had the kind of poison spirit that bold men used to get ahead. While he could not overpower by plain cussed force,

he could bully rag into submission. Many of the folks he had robbed, abused, and taken advantage of were so dazed by his

masterful manner that only after he had left them did it occur to them to feel harshly done by.

Of course, none of that held up in the presence of timber wolves. With a full and hungry pack of

Canis Lupus Occidentalis on his heels, Buck had sense enough to run.

Being caught off guard by a late winter squall was a serious inconvenience, and Buck already had a twist in his prick over having to flee from the law before

breakfast. Two eager young constables of the Northwest Mounted Police had shown up unannounced at

his doorstep, so to speak. The recent decline of Buck's fortunes, which left him still better off

...